SEPTEMBER__________________________________________________ ___2005

Thursday, September 1st

<Araksi> Early in the morning we lifted anchor and moved in to our berth; we wanted to finish the maneuvering and mooring before the winds start interfering with our job. After breakfast the first thing we did was to take down the genoa and find out how to detach the damaged piece of the roller-reefing-system. Our Boatowner's Mechanical Manuel (by Nigel Calder) suggested that the entire forestay had to be taken off so that one can slip off the damaged part. Never having done such a job we didn't have much confidence in our mechanical skills and we certainly didn't want to do something wrong. So I called the Profurl agent and asked him to fix it for us. He arrived in an hour time. We started immediately with the job, first securing the mast then dislatching the forestay from the top of the mast. We then lay the entire piece on the pontoon and dismounted the parts. The whole action took some four hours, and it was time for Philippe to leave. We still had to clean the elements of the system making them ready for tomorrow. Our French neighbor gave a hand to Ruud in detaching some stuck parts. We were finished around seven, when we enjoyed the buzz in the marina with some wine and the company of our neighbor, who has already done a couple of times the adventure that we are up to: crossing the Atlantic. I always "abuse" such people by asking thousands of question about the crossing and the destination. So it was late in the evening when we were tired and ready to slip into some Caribbean dreams.

Friday, September 2nd

<Araksi> As promised Philippe arrived at ten sharp. In two hours our roller-reefing-system was up and ready for the genoa. This though had first to be cleaned and the chafed parts mended. So while Ruud was busy cleaning all the inox on the boat I started repairing the sails by sewing lather patches on the spots which are prone to chafe. I was occupied with it during the rest of the day and Ruud with washing, rubbing and polishing.

Saturday, September 3rd

<Araksi> In the morning I finished the last bits of the repair work while Ruud was doing the cleaning of the ropes and parts. Then together we washed the 45m2 sail on the boat by folding it in two; it worked. Luckily the wind was not strong at all, so we put up the sail and gave it lots of time to dry.

Sunday, September 4th

<Araksi> Next on the list of to-does is the repair of our dinghy cover, which we had it sewn in Marmaris. During the last sealing season it had got lots of tears and chafe, so I plan to finish the fender project I had started with in Palma de Mallorca but had to put it aside. The idea is to attach a quite thick rope around the dinghy, along the line which gets the most bangs and hits on quays, walls or boats. Ruud heaved the outboard by attaching it to the davits, then we lifted the dinghy on to the pontoon where I could easily do my measuring and fitting-tries.

Monday, September 5th

<Araksi> This morning we were at town to make some supplies and pay Philippe's bill. Since we are here in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria we hardly got the time to get out of our direct neighborhood. As soon as we are finished with the work we want to explore more than the couple of blocks around the marina, even though the city is not the most appealing one. Today we found a huge internet center integrated in one of those billiard and play halls, just next to Corte Ingles, the department store.

On the rest of the day I was busy sewing. Ruud attached protective tapes on some spots of the main sail which get the most rubbing from the reefing joints.

Tuesday and Wednesday, September 6th and 7th

<Araksi> Sewing was my major activity on Tuesday; Ruud's was washing the main sail. On Wednesday we finalized the work we both were busy with yesterday; the dinghy cover was back on its place, and so were the ropes, shackles and other bits.

Thursday, September 8th

<Araksi> In the morning I had a last job to do; it was going up the mast, for checking the state of equipment, joints, ropes, terminals of the shrouds. I also cleaned and applied WD40 on screws and mainly the rail which leads the sail up and down the mast. We left the marina late in the afternoon. After anchoring in the bay north of the marina we came back to help Sabine, a German skipper, to move her 14m boat to the berth we were in.

When we were finally back on Garabes after a long day we were happy to be swinging on our anchor again. We simply prefer anchorages, rather than being squeezed in a berth and gazed by passants or being deprived from the usually gentle breeze flowing through the boat.

Friday, September 9th

<Araksi> Today we just relaxed. It was a long week with intense work, so we just wanted to be lazy and give us some time to recover. Nevertheless we went to the internet center in the afternoon that we had discovered couple of days ago. It really was time to check our mails - over 60 messages were waiting to be read! And not to speak from our homepage, we neglected it for a long time and there is lots to tell.

In the evening we went out with Sabine who lives on her boat Aikane, a 14m Amel. She guided us to new territories that we didn't yet had the time to break in. Las Palmas is a large and crescent shaped city stretching from the beaches on the northeastern corner of the island down to the northeast coast. Our destination was the promenade along the northern coast, where we had some beer and tapas in one of the restaurants, enjoyed the conversation and the very mild evening with the sea gently splashing on to the coast. Sabine who has been already for 14 years in this region and also knows the Caribbean could give us lots of information and tell us about nice places to go.

Saturday, September 10th

<Araksi> I finally have the time to visit a fresh produce market in town this morning -the vegetable in most of the Supermarkets is old and expensive. We dinghied into the marina and parked along Aikane Sabine joined us into the town to have a look at the market, than we parted. As soon as we entered the huge hall, I indulged in the colors and odours surrounding me. At the end I had filled my bags with densely scenting mangos and bananas, juicy tomatoes and fresh green lettuce. What a richness!

In the afternoon we marched southwards to the old center of town. We enjoyed the typical narrow streets full of old stores, market halls, and here and there some typical bars. A cathedral and a Colombus' house seems to be a must at the core of each capital city of the islands.

Sunday - Tuesday, September 11th - 13th

<Araksi> We mainly focused on buying a good mattress for both of us, and gathering information about iridium phones. On Monday we were off for the mattress. After marching all around the town we finally found a good store with a helpful staff and ample information. So at the end we were convinced to have had ordered quality ware.

As for the Iridium phones we visited two stores specialized in radio communication and electronics. They could supply us with some information. We are still in the process of deciding though. One of the stores was in the commercial harbour, quite a walk away from where we are. In the basin there, to our amazement, we saw a fleet of Japanese ship, we suppose Japanese fishing ship keen to transport the tunas around here to Japan. The tunas Ruud has desperately been trying to catch on his last couple of sails.

Wednesday, September 14th

<Araksi> As we planed to leave for Fuerteventura today, we were up early had breakfast and lifted anchor at 09:00. The passage was 57 miles on a southwest course. We had a very pleasant sail with an average speed of 6kts. We arrived in the southwestern corner of Fuerteventura in late afternoon and anchored around Punta Jandia, in front of the village Puertito de la Luz (028° 04,2'N; 014° 29,9'W). The bay is sheltered from the usual northern winds, however swell may work its way in by heavy weather. The ground was sand at around 7 meters depth and the holding good, the scenery spectacular.

Thursday, September 15th

<Araksi> We left the anchorage around 10:00. The weather was calm so we motor-sailed along the south coast of the island enjoying the spectacular views. Around the headland of Morro Jable, on the southeast corner of Fuerteventura, the wind picked up so we could sail close hauled to our destination to Gran Tarajal most of the time. The south east coast has long sandy beaches and unfortunately some ugly colossal holiday resorts, the mountains behind are barren. The island is the second largest in the archipelago after Tenerife, it gets lots of wind, and is very arid. The desert-like and empty landscape must have a meditative fascination on in-land travelers; that's what we thought while sailing along the mountains that rise majestically behind the sandy beaches.

In the evening we dropped anchor on sand and in 8 meters depth in the bay east of the harbor of Gran Tarajal (028° 12,5'N; 014°, 01'W), well sheltered from the prevailing winds.

This part of the archipelago is heavily monitored by the Guardia Civil; The issue here is the flow of illegal immigrants, brought in by smugglers, who take advantage of the short distance from the African coast to the EU territories. Every boat along the coast is meticulously observed and registered, be it a sailing boat, a fishing boat or a frigate. So we were not an exception. Half an hour after our arrival, the coastal authorities showed up in their powerful boats, checked our passports, asked some questions and left. An hour later we observed a huge army helicopter with its powerful lights searching up the sea, aided by a boat of the Guardia, picking upo some people out of the water. Illegal immegrants?

Friday, September 16th

<Araksi> We left the anchorage around nine. Our target was the southern bays of Lanzarote 50 miles north. At our departure there was almost no wind, but as we approached the cape it accelerated to 20-25 kts. The strong winds accompanied us almost all the way to the tip of Fuerteventura; it was a journey full of tagging and beating, nevertheless we enjoyed it. As we passed the island Lobos - parted from Fuerteventura by a narrow and shallow channel- Ruud caught a tuna and he was the happiest hobby fisher in the world, for in our last four trips he didn't have a single catch and was starting to get really disappointed. By then it was eight and time for the sun to hide behind the horizon, as to us it could have waited half an hour longer for that was the time we needed for the anchorage we were heading to; we only knew that we had to anchor somewhere in the middle of the bay, which is framed on the east by marina Rubicon and on the west by Costa Blanca. We could make up the marina with its long dark breakwater against the highly lit coastline, but it was impossible to figure out the location of Costa Blanca. Then there we saw the light of help, the fairy, which runs between Corralejo on the north coast of Fuerteventura and Costa Blanca -this information we had from the cruising guide. We just waited to fix its arrival spot, from there on it was easy to head to the anchorage. We anchored in seven meters depth (028° 51,5'N; 013° 49,4'W). We were exhausted but happy to have done the whole trip along the coast of Fuerteventura without stopping in Castello or Rosario on the east side of the island. For a while we enjoyed the lit shore line, observed the pulsating town and let the odor of different dishes from the various restaurants pass our nostrils. But then it was time for us to retire.

Saturday, September 17th

<Araksi> First thing in the morning was to check our surrounding and the anchor ground. We couldn't have picked a better spot even in the best day light. The ground was sand, the anchor had already dig in thoroughly and we were at a very safe distance form the entrance of the port, Playa Blanca, having left enough of room for the ferry to maneuver.

After breakfast we went into marina Rubicon. Our intention is to stay in there for couple of days and explore the island by car. The marina is new, clean and spacious. The complex harbors a good chandler, a supermarket, a bank a pharmacy, a car rental, many restaurants and boutiques. At the office we checked if we could come in tomorrow. They still have plenty of berths therefore it was not a problem at all. We then checked on Annick and Michael from Lucie, who have their boat hauled out here. No one seemed to be at home, so we called them and made an arrangement to meet in the afternoon. In the mean time we took a walk along the attractive coastline to the town (a ten minutes walk), which has much more stores, internet centers, and car rental agencies (much cheaper than the one in the marina). Around 14:00 we were back on Garabes. For lunch we prepared a portion of the tuna, that Ruud had caught yesterday. Later in the afternoon Michael visited us, alone though. He had just driven Annick to the airport, so he would be a bachelor for a while. He gave us helpful information about the surrounding and additional services in the marina such as a wireless internet connection facility.

Sunday, September 18th

<Araksi> In the morning we took a berth in the marina, installed the software for the wireless connection on our computer and immediately went on testing it. Unfortunately the connection was not steady from our spot. We hardly could work for an hour; it would have been to good to be true to have a 24 hours connection for 6 Euros. In the afternoon, through Michael, we arranged a car for touring the island, met other sailors heard their tales and experiences and were a bit more richer on information.

Monday, September 19th

<Araksi> Today, we visited Montanas del Fuego, in the Timanfaya National Park. This is the bizarre landscape in the south of the island that has been shaped between 1730 and 1736 and in 1824 by volcanic eruptions. The area is such an impressive and immediate evidence of the tremendous and primordial power of nature, that it is absolutely breathtaking! And at its sight, when you are told that this whole area of 150 square kilometers was once the most furtile plains of the island and that had in a short period of time burst open giving way to tons of lava you then are awestricken by nature and its power. The scenery is so barren, rugged, and hostile that one gets the feeling as if the eruption had occurred only recently.

Deeply impressed we continued our road to the north then turning to the east we stopped in Arrecife, in the capital of the island. There we had a delicious and pleasant snack for lunch in the old fishing harbor.

We then draw southwards enjoying the landscape along the coastline. A coastline entirely shaped by the flow of lava into the sea some couple of centuries ago.

Tuesday, September 20th

<Araksi> We were mainly around the marina today. I did the laundry while Ruud was busy with bits of work here and there. We went out for dinner with Michael.

Wednesday, September 21st

<Araksi> We are still in the marina. Ruud washed the boat then I applied teflon polish on all the stainless steel parts. In between Ruud had a brief diving adventure in the seven meters deep waters of the marina to search for my sun glasses that I had lost a day before while boarding the dinghy. In ten minutes time I had them back!

Thursday, September 22nd

<Araksi> In the morning I bought new rope to replace our old bridle line for the anchor chain and then got ready to leave. Around 15:00 we left the marina towards the beaches at Papagayo, which is hardly two miles away (028° 50,8'N; 013° 47,6'W). The anchorage is protected from the usual north winds but the holding is patchy ( closer inshore it gets rocky where as it is sandy above ten meters of depth).

Friday, September 23rd

<Araksi> We sailed to Corralejo today and anchored behind the breakwater. This fishing port on the north coast of Fuerteventura is a small village with a huge tourist development on its east extending towards the excellent sandy beaches. The anchorage is protected from the prevailing winds, the holding is patchy though. On our approach we were lucky to have Michael at anchor, who had already come here yesterday; he showed us the good, sandy spots. So we dropped anchor in only 2,5 meters depth on sand (028° 44,3'N; 013° 51,8'W). Michael offered us some welcome drink on Lucie. After a while we all went to town, did some shopping. While Michael helped Ruud mending the teak heading along the starboard steering wheel (it was not fixed properly causing water to penetrate into our cabin by heavy rain or when waves crashed onto it), I prepared the dinner. We ended the day dining and chatting pleasantly.

Saturday, September 24th

<Araksi> I felt a little dizzy today; I suppose I had a bit of too much wine yesterday. We had a relaxed day, I worked mostly on our homepage. Ruud saw a (highly poisonous) sea snake while snorkeling. In the evening we were on Lucie.

Sunday, September 25th

<Ruud> We had a nasty surprise this morning: when lifting the anchor, the chain just broke. Luckily Araksi saw an empty berth nearby and I quickly headed there to moor safely. With Michael I then went to pick up the anchor, that was lying about 4 meters deep in the water with some 3 metes of chain hanging onto it. The whole action from recovering to remounting the anchor took only half an hour. We were then off to Lobos, the small island on the northeast coast of Fuerteventura, but decided not to stop there. Instead we continued on to Papagayo anchored there for dinner then at 20:00 started our passage back to Gran Canaria. We had favourable winds with big seas though, but could make some good progress.

Monday, September 26th

<Araksi> We arrived in Las Palmas at 11:00, with an average speed of 6,2kts. We were hoping to get a berth in the marina, since the staff there was quite positive to be able to arrange one for us two weeks ago. At our approach we tried to reach them by phone, but didn't get any answer. So we first anchored outside in the bay for investigating about our chances (I would like to be securely moored during Ruud's absence for the next five days). While Ruud descended the dinghy, I took a shower, put on clean clothes and went off to the marina. I approached our usual dinghy landing spot somewhere at the end of the harbour where the water is the filthiest, tied it up, and when attempting to have solid ground under my feet I somehow missed the pontoon and found myself back in the murky waters. Each! Pulling myself up on to the pontoon was not an easy job at all, it was then when I regretted not having practiced push-up exercises every morning. Finally I managed to get rid of the wet element. Water was dripping from all over my clothes, shoes and bag. I jumped into the dinghy and went back to Garabes; by all means, I couldn't have gone into the office in that state.

My second attempt to establish contact with the office in the marina went smooth; everything was already arranged for our arrival, the coordinator showed me immediately our berth. Eager to herald the positive news to Ruud I jumped into the dinghy ready to move, but the outboard didn't want. It seems that I do not have much luck with dinghies today. I approached Mr. Baroso, the coordinator, told him my problem. After some attempts to persuade our engine to start he as well gave up. Instead he trusted me in the hands, or better, in the dinghy of a Spaniard and so enabled me at our arrival at Garabes to look into the startling face of Ruud.

As during our last visit, our berth was on the east mole. Securing the boat here is a little more complicated than elsewhere in the marina where finger pontoons make it quite easy to berth. Here one has first to grab one of the buoys which float around in a quite uneven line and in places hamper the maneuvering. I managed to grab the outermost buoy and secure the bows while Ruud turned the boat to the pontoon and gave the aft lines to the guys waiting to help. We were finally secured and don't need to worry for the weather for the next few days.

Tuesday, September 27th

<Araksi> Our mattresses were delivered today. Ruud was busy getting prepared for his visit to Germany. I made some shopping, washed off the salt from Garabes, and it was already evening. After dinner we watched a DVD.

Wednesday, September 28th

<Araksi> Ruud left this morning for five days. It is quite straightforward to get to the airport; there are busses leaving every half an hour from St. Telmo, the central bus station, and the trip takes 20 minutes.

Today I finally bought the cloth I had set an eye on already two weeks ago. I thought to saw a covering for our four extra bad covers and use them as cushions and mats on our quite hard cockpit seats. Doing so we can "kill two birds with one stone"; resting our bottoms on a smooth layer, and saving some storage space. I immediately started with the project and was almost finished in the evening.

Thursday, September 29th

<Araksi> My main project today is to find some rubber isolation bands for our freezer. Unfortunately this is not that an easy undertaking, and so I went walking and asking, and being referred from one address to the other. The result is that I still do not have it and I am not sure if I will ever find the original. Before the "siesta" time, I quickly went to the market hall bought some fresh fruits and vegetables and crawled back to Garabes; I had got blisters on my feet!

In the afternoon I finished the last bits of sawing-work. I am pleased with the result, I hope Ruud will like it as well. In between all the work, one chats with the neighbors, gathers lots of information, and gets to know lots of people. Marinas have their pros and cons as almost everything in life, especially in sailing life.

In the evening I worked on our homepage.

Friday, September 30th

<Araksi> This morning I was at the red cross which is around the corner to inquire about their vaccination program. We primarily want to refresh our tetanus vaccine. The chandler at last had a solution to the isolation band of the freezer. He would send someone to the industrial zone to find it for me. I was relieved.

Today I continued on another important project, namely to search for a suitable communication system. I am reading a lot about various satellite or HF/SSB systems. There are meanwhile many alternatives to the good old SSB, such as satellite phones providing e-mail, weather, and voice services, or satellite systems such as SkyMate, or Magellan/Orbcomm with e-mail, position reporting and weather services. One needs quite a lot of information before sorting out what each system needs additional to the hardware.

In the afternoon a 54 feet Janneau Sun Odyssey moored next to us with a British delivery crew on board: destination British Virgin Islands; departure in two days. It was highly exciting to meet people that were already so far.